In Cameroon, journalists given suspended prison terms

New York, December 6, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists
condemns Monday's criminal convictions of three Cameroonian journalists who
tried to investigate a purported government memo that suggested corruption in
the management of a state oil company. One of the defendants said he was
tortured in custody, while a fourth journalist accused in the case died in
custody.

A judge handed a three-year suspended prison term to Harris Robert
Mintya, editor of the weekly Le Devoir,
and a two-year suspended prison sentence to Serges Sabouang, editor of the
bimonthly La Nation, on forgery
charges, according to local journalists and news reports. A third journalist,
Simon Hervé Nko'o, a former reporter for the weekly Bebela, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison, the
sources said. The judge also ordered the journalists to each pay a fine of 119,421
CFA francs (US$238), and told them they had 10 days to appeal, Sabouang told CPJ.

Sabouang said he would appeal. It was not immediately clear if
Mintya and Nko'o would appeal.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by former presidential adviser
and current Justice Minister Laurent Esso in 2010 who claimed that the
journalists had forged his signature in a document purported to be a leaked
confidential memo to Adolphe Moudiki, executive general manager of the state
oil company. The memo supposedly ordered secret payouts of 2 billion CFA francs
(US$3.9 million) to oil company managers, news reports said. The defendants had
sent Esso a series of questions along with a copy of the memo. Esso denied that
the document was authentic.

In February 2010, police detained Mintya, Sabouang, and Nko'o.
Nko'o told local media that he had been tortured in custody and fled into
exile. Mintya and Sabouang were charged and remanded into pretrial detention at
Nkondengui Prison, but released on bail in November 2010.

Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota, an editor for the Cameroon Express, was also detained with
the journalists in 2010, but died in jail due to inadequate
medical care. Authorities blamed his death on ill health. In July, Esso publicly denied any wrongdoing or responsibility in the journalists' arrests or
Ngota's death.

"Cameroon
is punishing journalists for handling a document obtained from government
sources and for asking questions of a top public official instead of
investigating the content of the memo or bringing to account those responsible
for the death of Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota," said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the appellate court to reverse this decision,
which is a mockery of justice."

For
more data and analysis on Cameroon, visit CPJ's Cameroon page here.